Today I celebrate the Bday of a friend who was very special, always smiling and always so full of life.
My Guardian Angel.
Every time I think about her it brings a smile and a pain that I can never see her again. Today is not a day for me to think about the pain that will remain.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Forecasting & the Sales Guy
While we as salesman always hate the forecast meetings and calls I want to propogate today that there is something for us as well in it. Meeting forecasts is not only a great feeling but also means a lot of money. But does it end just there I guess there is more to it. All the CRM tools of the world and BI tools are there for the sales guy to see where he going and how far he is from the target. Forecasting can be a tool that help look beyond money. I know it sounds like a fairy tale but I would like to believe some day I too would see much more than I do today.
We all know that the fundamentals of a strong & sound business lies with the accuracy with which the company is able to produce results based on its expectations (forecast). Then there is the fact that there is only one way to pay for our expenses with the income derived from our sales. That would hold for the future, too. While Demand generation and forecasting are the backbone to Sales. Forecasting also allows decision makers to take decisions that would give direction to the company in the future.
There a ton of applications that take the forecasting data to the ERP systems and help in scheduling production and reduce the cost of excess. It helps Optimize the functioning of all the departments and brings the all necessary harmony in the company. Though this is not new but challenging times bring with it new set of imbalances. While it is important to keep a close eye on the goal that we had set out for, it is equally important to set balances at every point and do a reality check before these goals are revised. I was recently going through a paper published by Robert Murdick, How they figure the sales forecast. It primarily talks about all the different elements involved in sales forecasting. It was interesting to learn things like judgemental forecasting. Though i have been in sales for a while now this was a term that we always used but never knew that this is an established science.
Judgemental Forecasting comprises of executive Judgement & sales force composite. Executive Judgement is just as it sounds, it depends on an individuals judgement about the market, business conditions, experience, etc. This method is the oldest and the most simplest method but usually very inaccurate, tends to overlook market trends and is limited to the attributes of an individual.
Sales Force composite or group forecasts are the more relevant and commonly used practise in sales organisation where the salesmen usually calls his number based on the market preferences, field visits, competitors activities. Each salesman estimates the sales in his territory for the period or year ahead. The Territory manager than reviews and make adjustmentsfor the chronic optimist or pessimists.
Sales Forecast = Last year's Sales x (Sales to date this year/sales to the above date in the past year). There are so many such equations that makes sales forecasting a very interesting area of business that a lot of small and emerging companies do not pay attention to. The very fact that there are a ton of business analysts working on most of this we as sales guys are turning a blind eye to an opportunity for us to grow simply by looking ahead of time and understand the business objectives. Making simple suggestion and keeping track of business trends therefore becomes the most important characteristics of a sales guy.
I am not sure if my suggestions would make any difference in the company or will they even look at it. This is a challenge that we all face but I am sure you would agree that if your suggestion is ahead of time (visionary) and justifies itself with the business trends you have made a significant progress in your approach and contribution to building a truly dynamic sales team.
We all know that the fundamentals of a strong & sound business lies with the accuracy with which the company is able to produce results based on its expectations (forecast). Then there is the fact that there is only one way to pay for our expenses with the income derived from our sales. That would hold for the future, too. While Demand generation and forecasting are the backbone to Sales. Forecasting also allows decision makers to take decisions that would give direction to the company in the future.
There a ton of applications that take the forecasting data to the ERP systems and help in scheduling production and reduce the cost of excess. It helps Optimize the functioning of all the departments and brings the all necessary harmony in the company. Though this is not new but challenging times bring with it new set of imbalances. While it is important to keep a close eye on the goal that we had set out for, it is equally important to set balances at every point and do a reality check before these goals are revised. I was recently going through a paper published by Robert Murdick, How they figure the sales forecast. It primarily talks about all the different elements involved in sales forecasting. It was interesting to learn things like judgemental forecasting. Though i have been in sales for a while now this was a term that we always used but never knew that this is an established science.
Judgemental Forecasting comprises of executive Judgement & sales force composite. Executive Judgement is just as it sounds, it depends on an individuals judgement about the market, business conditions, experience, etc. This method is the oldest and the most simplest method but usually very inaccurate, tends to overlook market trends and is limited to the attributes of an individual.
Sales Force composite or group forecasts are the more relevant and commonly used practise in sales organisation where the salesmen usually calls his number based on the market preferences, field visits, competitors activities. Each salesman estimates the sales in his territory for the period or year ahead. The Territory manager than reviews and make adjustmentsfor the chronic optimist or pessimists.
Sales Forecast = Last year's Sales x (Sales to date this year/sales to the above date in the past year). There are so many such equations that makes sales forecasting a very interesting area of business that a lot of small and emerging companies do not pay attention to. The very fact that there are a ton of business analysts working on most of this we as sales guys are turning a blind eye to an opportunity for us to grow simply by looking ahead of time and understand the business objectives. Making simple suggestion and keeping track of business trends therefore becomes the most important characteristics of a sales guy.
I am not sure if my suggestions would make any difference in the company or will they even look at it. This is a challenge that we all face but I am sure you would agree that if your suggestion is ahead of time (visionary) and justifies itself with the business trends you have made a significant progress in your approach and contribution to building a truly dynamic sales team.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Quote of the day
To believe is to know you believe, and to know you believe is not to believe.
- Jean-Paul Sartre
That's a thought now..Pheww..but you know what I really want to dig deep into it...Help me with what you think of this quote..."Believe"....
- Jean-Paul Sartre
That's a thought now..Pheww..but you know what I really want to dig deep into it...Help me with what you think of this quote..."Believe"....
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Whirlpool
Fresh like rain in the hill, drops the size of dew,
Cold & refreshing I hear myself humming,
As I brave myself in a dark valley,
This Feeling is new as if I am excited,
And scared same time in the valley dark & lonely.
Thousands of questions and innumerable images form,
As if to show what I dont want to see.
But I know at the end of it I would have braved a journey worth every bit of it,
Courage that I can never speak about, bravo that I will never receive.
Accomplishment that I am proud of and will always think and smile about.
Twists and turns like a roller Coaster,
I come across a cross road like never before,
Caught between love and parents, responsibilities unknown,
This Feeling is new as if I am excited,
And scared same time in the crowd lonely & disappointed,
Thousands of questions & innumerable images form,
As if to show what I dont want to see.
The only hope that I live with is the sweet result,
A strong and happy relation that everyone would see and speak about.
Such is the music of life,
Touching the shore like the sea,
I am sure the challenge wont be over even after this,
Destination is always as close as the next journey is.
You by my side make it easy.
The feeling is new as if I am excited,
And Scared same time..........
This is exciting times for me each day brings with it fair share of anxiety, excitement and uncertainties. I can probably never put in words how and what I go through everyday. The one and only factor that keeps me from falling apart is your love. Every time I look at you it gives me strength to go on. I have a long way to go and it wont be possible without you khushi..I love you for being with me and being there..
Cold & refreshing I hear myself humming,
As I brave myself in a dark valley,
This Feeling is new as if I am excited,
And scared same time in the valley dark & lonely.
Thousands of questions and innumerable images form,
As if to show what I dont want to see.
But I know at the end of it I would have braved a journey worth every bit of it,
Courage that I can never speak about, bravo that I will never receive.
Accomplishment that I am proud of and will always think and smile about.
Twists and turns like a roller Coaster,
I come across a cross road like never before,
Caught between love and parents, responsibilities unknown,
This Feeling is new as if I am excited,
And scared same time in the crowd lonely & disappointed,
Thousands of questions & innumerable images form,
As if to show what I dont want to see.
The only hope that I live with is the sweet result,
A strong and happy relation that everyone would see and speak about.
Such is the music of life,
Touching the shore like the sea,
I am sure the challenge wont be over even after this,
Destination is always as close as the next journey is.
You by my side make it easy.
The feeling is new as if I am excited,
And Scared same time..........
This is exciting times for me each day brings with it fair share of anxiety, excitement and uncertainties. I can probably never put in words how and what I go through everyday. The one and only factor that keeps me from falling apart is your love. Every time I look at you it gives me strength to go on. I have a long way to go and it wont be possible without you khushi..I love you for being with me and being there..
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Quote of the Day!!
- All married couples should learn the art of battle as they should learn the art of making love. Good battle is objective and honest - never vicious or cruel. Good battle is healthy and constructive, and brings to a marriage the principle of equal partnership.
Arguments!!
After my confrontation with Mom & Dad about our marriage I was left with a soar taste in the mouth. Feeling really low and depressed about the whole experience. I feel as individuals we all have our hypocrisies though we never admit it. Only when someone is effected by it you come to realize the intensity of it.
My mom said a word which would be very difficult for me to forget, honestly i never thought that such a thought exists in my family but such fundamentalism in my own house was shocking. She said "I will not even see that girl or drink water from her hand" little does she know that the ration bought in the house is her money. What if she was a doctor and give her medicines will she not take it?? I am just not in the mood to argue. There can be a thousand arguments for and against a person and there is no way one can convince anyone unless they are open to the idea. Like they say you have to open your mind and heart to accept people and happiness in our lives. My Parents are religious and they follow a lot of these gurus..Sri Sri Ravishankar..he has a lot of followers around the globe. Imagine if he was not open to the idea of working together with people or Gandhi, or Nehru..i mean I am not making a political statement but we all cannot exist without each other, can we??
I am sure even if the world had just one religion there would have been countless number of arguments and fights over other things. Do you really think otherwise? Do you think that there would have been no wars? Brothers have fought with each other remember. There is no guarntee in this world we are all sculpted to fight it out. Survival of the fittest..
For a moment let me keep the whole issue aside and think about my parents are against us. Why people are usually against such marriages. Why only a handful failures are made case studies for the society and the success sweeped under the carpet. I am not the first one to think about a marriage like this and stand against my family. There are countless number of such issue and I choose to bring it up today because today I face it. I am sure my parents are trying to test my conviction and my decision. They are not going to give in so easily after all its an inter Religion marriage. God!! I feel like a revolutionary in my family.
You know what I want to take a complete U-turn on my topic and tell you what as a couple we are going through. Atleast I can tell you my part of the story.
After the argument on Saturday I felt at ease with myself and determined about my decision but at the same time I hated the conversation and the level of hatred that reflected in my parents tonality for a person that they dont even know and what was more disheartening was they didnt even want to meet her. Remarks like; this is the last time I am coming here to stay with you. I am dead because of your actions. Really what did I do? kill someone, raped someone..i only want to know where I am wrong. Is a son good only when he does what he is told. I thought that makes more like a donkey than a son. May be there is some amount of anger in what I write but honestly where did I go wrong ? I am sure my parents have some expectation with me. I would be the happiest if i can fulfill some of their expectations but i dont think the expectation of marrying a person they choose for me is a fair one. I think if that makes me bad I rather be bad than good. I dont want to screw someone elses life when I dont think i can manage it. Pheww what a movie what Melodrama. My parents cried a lot in the last three or four days and I just hate to be the reason for it. I always want them to be happy and if i cant be the reason for happiness I dont want to be the reason otherwise.
That was just one side of it..between my thoughts and arguments with my parents there is this girl who I want to bring into my family with very little promise that my family will support her. I am sure that even if she believes that I will give all that I can to her, her family will not be very confident. This is very tricky situation to be in. This very thought pulled me down and still pulls me down. Will I be able to keep her happy and the promise to give her a good life will i be able to give that to her. These thoughts are something that we all get at some point in our lives but today its a little more scary and more real. All I really think of now is how we will weather the storm. It would be very important for Khushi and me to stick it out now and if we can now I am sure we can than safely say the worst is over. Khushi and I are both impaitient and honestly irritated at the situation. We were arguing about it yesterday and it felt really bad..I can see her pain and she can see mine yet we are both just a little ruffled.
Khushi i really hope things work out for us.
My mom said a word which would be very difficult for me to forget, honestly i never thought that such a thought exists in my family but such fundamentalism in my own house was shocking. She said "I will not even see that girl or drink water from her hand" little does she know that the ration bought in the house is her money. What if she was a doctor and give her medicines will she not take it?? I am just not in the mood to argue. There can be a thousand arguments for and against a person and there is no way one can convince anyone unless they are open to the idea. Like they say you have to open your mind and heart to accept people and happiness in our lives. My Parents are religious and they follow a lot of these gurus..Sri Sri Ravishankar..he has a lot of followers around the globe. Imagine if he was not open to the idea of working together with people or Gandhi, or Nehru..i mean I am not making a political statement but we all cannot exist without each other, can we??
I am sure even if the world had just one religion there would have been countless number of arguments and fights over other things. Do you really think otherwise? Do you think that there would have been no wars? Brothers have fought with each other remember. There is no guarntee in this world we are all sculpted to fight it out. Survival of the fittest..
For a moment let me keep the whole issue aside and think about my parents are against us. Why people are usually against such marriages. Why only a handful failures are made case studies for the society and the success sweeped under the carpet. I am not the first one to think about a marriage like this and stand against my family. There are countless number of such issue and I choose to bring it up today because today I face it. I am sure my parents are trying to test my conviction and my decision. They are not going to give in so easily after all its an inter Religion marriage. God!! I feel like a revolutionary in my family.
You know what I want to take a complete U-turn on my topic and tell you what as a couple we are going through. Atleast I can tell you my part of the story.
After the argument on Saturday I felt at ease with myself and determined about my decision but at the same time I hated the conversation and the level of hatred that reflected in my parents tonality for a person that they dont even know and what was more disheartening was they didnt even want to meet her. Remarks like; this is the last time I am coming here to stay with you. I am dead because of your actions. Really what did I do? kill someone, raped someone..i only want to know where I am wrong. Is a son good only when he does what he is told. I thought that makes more like a donkey than a son. May be there is some amount of anger in what I write but honestly where did I go wrong ? I am sure my parents have some expectation with me. I would be the happiest if i can fulfill some of their expectations but i dont think the expectation of marrying a person they choose for me is a fair one. I think if that makes me bad I rather be bad than good. I dont want to screw someone elses life when I dont think i can manage it. Pheww what a movie what Melodrama. My parents cried a lot in the last three or four days and I just hate to be the reason for it. I always want them to be happy and if i cant be the reason for happiness I dont want to be the reason otherwise.
That was just one side of it..between my thoughts and arguments with my parents there is this girl who I want to bring into my family with very little promise that my family will support her. I am sure that even if she believes that I will give all that I can to her, her family will not be very confident. This is very tricky situation to be in. This very thought pulled me down and still pulls me down. Will I be able to keep her happy and the promise to give her a good life will i be able to give that to her. These thoughts are something that we all get at some point in our lives but today its a little more scary and more real. All I really think of now is how we will weather the storm. It would be very important for Khushi and me to stick it out now and if we can now I am sure we can than safely say the worst is over. Khushi and I are both impaitient and honestly irritated at the situation. We were arguing about it yesterday and it felt really bad..I can see her pain and she can see mine yet we are both just a little ruffled.
Khushi i really hope things work out for us.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Religion Or People ???
Religion Or people
This is not a thought but an experience. Today I need validation and support more than I ever needed. We in India claim to be a very culturally diverse and a united society but are we really united, are we really living with each other out of acceptance or out of compulsion as we dont want to get into an argument. I am a Marwari guy who believes that religion(s) unite people and cultural diversity brings intelligence in the society.But if we are talking about marriage marwari marries a marwari and mallu marries a mallu....Christian marries a christian and hindu marries a hindu..everything else is an exception and is discussed like I am. I love a christian Mallu girl and I believe that i will be very happy with her. But i have parents who are social (hindu) and believe that everything begins with what people around us will think and what they will say it is irrelevant and unimportant what my son will go through, let me even stretch an say I am Ok with him being a bachelor but not an inter caste or inter religion marriage. I am not even interested in knowing the person my son wants to get married to.
I am not battling with what i have to do but I am battling with my duties as a son. Today my dad told me if I want to get married to that girl I am free to do so but it will be at the loss of your parents. Mom said "I am dead for you if you marry her". No one I am sure would want to go through what I am going through and put his/her parents through this pain but I have. And that is certainly not a very good happy feeling. Today i really want to know who is more important religion or People. All the saints in this world, all the wise men in this world would you please answer a simple question. What is religion and what role does it play to bring people together? Does it look at people through a lens which is either a christian or a hindu?
What an apathy we cannot respect people around us. But we respect the faith that someone told us is the rightway to live. Wonder how can that be true!!. What my peers think of the work that i do is more important than the work that I do..I sometimes wonder how many contradictory versions do we have of everything we say and do. We are hypocrates. We are all calculative, selfish and cunning in our ways to get things done. We would choose the words that sounds good to everyone and be critical to people who we want to act in a particular manner..
This is not a thought but an experience. Today I need validation and support more than I ever needed. We in India claim to be a very culturally diverse and a united society but are we really united, are we really living with each other out of acceptance or out of compulsion as we dont want to get into an argument. I am a Marwari guy who believes that religion(s) unite people and cultural diversity brings intelligence in the society.But if we are talking about marriage marwari marries a marwari and mallu marries a mallu....Christian marries a christian and hindu marries a hindu..everything else is an exception and is discussed like I am. I love a christian Mallu girl and I believe that i will be very happy with her. But i have parents who are social (hindu) and believe that everything begins with what people around us will think and what they will say it is irrelevant and unimportant what my son will go through, let me even stretch an say I am Ok with him being a bachelor but not an inter caste or inter religion marriage. I am not even interested in knowing the person my son wants to get married to.
I am not battling with what i have to do but I am battling with my duties as a son. Today my dad told me if I want to get married to that girl I am free to do so but it will be at the loss of your parents. Mom said "I am dead for you if you marry her". No one I am sure would want to go through what I am going through and put his/her parents through this pain but I have. And that is certainly not a very good happy feeling. Today i really want to know who is more important religion or People. All the saints in this world, all the wise men in this world would you please answer a simple question. What is religion and what role does it play to bring people together? Does it look at people through a lens which is either a christian or a hindu?
What an apathy we cannot respect people around us. But we respect the faith that someone told us is the rightway to live. Wonder how can that be true!!. What my peers think of the work that i do is more important than the work that I do..I sometimes wonder how many contradictory versions do we have of everything we say and do. We are hypocrates. We are all calculative, selfish and cunning in our ways to get things done. We would choose the words that sounds good to everyone and be critical to people who we want to act in a particular manner..
Friday, September 5, 2008
Weak week !!
My parents came last week to bangalore and they have important things in mind to discuss. For some reason I am not nervous nor am I bothered about what they have to say. Well I am sure you are thinking what am i talking about..Well I am talking about my marriage. My parents have been after my life to gt me married and in their efforts to get me married they have done all they could and I have done all I could not to get married. Now its serious, I love Teena (Khushi, as I call her) she is a christian. So you know how my story can be. A Marwari guy talking about getting married to a christian girl. In my mind i am sure more than ever that i would get married to her and you know i think i already think we are married. I hate the fact that i cant see her everyday and this bothers me a lot.
Now you the adrenaline that I already have, as if that was not enough a moron who doesnt know how to freaking driving bangs into my car parked outside my house. Imagine parked and goes bang...My heart bled..not only did he bang my car he is telling me that i am at fault as i parked the car on the road..I am not going to pay. My instinct was to freaking break the guys head into pieces and throw it away..But hell i have grown old and thought all i really care about is get this car repaired and save myself from shit. I agreed for a settlement.
The Next day the as promised takes me to the garage and assures that he will get it fixed. On this assurance i gave the car to the garage he wanted and left for work. Next day when i called to enquire about my car..Guess what the owner says..I will not release the car till my payment is done. I call the guy who banged my car..who is a rowdy in the area by the way..He says i only have 4k i cant pay 8k for the repair you will have to pay the rest...I was shell shocked..you hit my car and you ask me to pay from my pocket. Guess what the real the truth was?? The guy was getting the car fixed for about 4k and he wanted me to pay the entire amount.
Here is the background of this Guy. Mahesh, age around the late 20s, job driving around someone elses car and teasing girls on the road, occasionally working as a driver for a call center, wears allen solly formals when not wearing the dirty whites, attitude cool dude, about 5'11"-- 6'. The first impression that i had of him was that he was a bastard, turns out that its true. His story was that he is a son of an SI (Senior Inspector) in the nearby police station and I will not be able to lodge a complaint against him..Guess what i didnt want to complain (biggest mistake of my life) Not only would he been screwed as he was driving the car that he didnt own and the one who owned the car was a bigger Rowdy (call him his father). Who thought there is no excitement. Finally my car was fixed and I ended up paying 1500 for the repairs..I am sure you are laughing your guts out at my plight but thats not all..Yesterday another moron scratched my car.....Weak Week...
Now you the adrenaline that I already have, as if that was not enough a moron who doesnt know how to freaking driving bangs into my car parked outside my house. Imagine parked and goes bang...My heart bled..not only did he bang my car he is telling me that i am at fault as i parked the car on the road..I am not going to pay. My instinct was to freaking break the guys head into pieces and throw it away..But hell i have grown old and thought all i really care about is get this car repaired and save myself from shit. I agreed for a settlement.
The Next day the as promised takes me to the garage and assures that he will get it fixed. On this assurance i gave the car to the garage he wanted and left for work. Next day when i called to enquire about my car..Guess what the owner says..I will not release the car till my payment is done. I call the guy who banged my car..who is a rowdy in the area by the way..He says i only have 4k i cant pay 8k for the repair you will have to pay the rest...I was shell shocked..you hit my car and you ask me to pay from my pocket. Guess what the real the truth was?? The guy was getting the car fixed for about 4k and he wanted me to pay the entire amount.
Here is the background of this Guy. Mahesh, age around the late 20s, job driving around someone elses car and teasing girls on the road, occasionally working as a driver for a call center, wears allen solly formals when not wearing the dirty whites, attitude cool dude, about 5'11"-- 6'. The first impression that i had of him was that he was a bastard, turns out that its true. His story was that he is a son of an SI (Senior Inspector) in the nearby police station and I will not be able to lodge a complaint against him..Guess what i didnt want to complain (biggest mistake of my life) Not only would he been screwed as he was driving the car that he didnt own and the one who owned the car was a bigger Rowdy (call him his father). Who thought there is no excitement. Finally my car was fixed and I ended up paying 1500 for the repairs..I am sure you are laughing your guts out at my plight but thats not all..Yesterday another moron scratched my car.....Weak Week...
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